Earlier this week, Silent Hill 2 yet emerged from the fog of its development. A remake of the first 2001 game of the same name by Polish developer Bloober squad (Layers of Fear, The Medium), Silent Hill 2 is easy the most anticipated and ambitious horror game of 2024, a modern take on 1 of the most iconic and influential endurance horror games of all time.
Whether this is your first time playing the Silent Hill series or not, now is as perfect a time as any to research the movies and artists who inspired it. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of the movies cited as inspirations behind the series (as listed in the appendices of the official nipponese strategy guide for Silent Hill 3), where you can stream or acquisition them, as well as what the members of squad Silent — the first developers behind the first 4 Silent Hill games — had to say about each film.
What the creators had to say: “Personally, I think his top work is Twin Peaks. Also, erstwhile I saw Dune in junior advanced school, I was shocked by its beautiful images.” —Masahiro Ito, art manager and monster designer for Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room
What it is: David Lynch’s bizarre urban neo-noir follows a man who starts receiving mysterious VHS tapes — including 1 showing him murdering his wife, something he didn’t do. With the film’s dreamlike quality and unusual mixture of real and invented memories, it’s easy to see why it was a immense influence on Silent Hill.
Where to watch: The Criterion Channel, available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
What it is: Eraserhead follows a man named Henry who lives in a horrifying industrial dystopia planet — not entirely unlike any of Silent Hill’s creepy settings. yet Henry finds out that his girlfriend has had his child, a unusual inhuman creature that Henry attempts to care for.
Where to watch: Max, The Criterion Channel, available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
What it is: Blue Velvet is all about the sinister underpinnings of the American Dream, and the darkness that lurks in seemingly perfect suburbs. The movie’s main character, Jeffrey, returns to his hometown and stumbles upon a severed ear, which leads him into a dark planet of conspiracies and violence.
Where to watch: Hoopla, Tubi, Pluto TV, available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
What it is: Lynch’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic stars Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, the boy of a powerful extraplanetary dynasty in the future who must rally the people of the desert planet Arrakis to avenge his family’s demise at the hands of their ancestral enemies. The movie was critically panned erstwhile it premiered in 1984, but has since become a cult favourite among fans of David Lynch’s work.
Where to watch: Max, available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
The films of Stanley Kubrick
Image: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
What the creators had to say: “Full metallic Jacket is simply a sadistic depiction of humanity that I just can’t get adequate of.” —Masahiro Ito, art manager and monster designer for Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room
What it is: Full metallic Jacket is manager Stanley Kubrick’s grim examination of the Vietnam War. The movie follows a group of Marines through their grueling and dehumanizing basic training that shapes them for deployment to Vietnam. Vincent D’Onofrio’s character, Private “Gomer Pyle,” was utilized as the basis for Silent Hill 2’s Eddie Dombrowski.
Where to watch: Paramount Plus, available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
What it is: Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita is an adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial fresh of the same name. The 1962 movie explores the forbidden (and disturbing) relation between a middle-aged prof. and a 14-year-old girl he becomes infatuated with, as well as themes of sexual frustration and abuse.
Where to watch: Hoopla, Kanopy, Tubi, Pluto TV, available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
What it is: A Clockwork Orange is simply a dystopian crime drama that explores themes of violence, free will, and the nature of good and evil. Set in a near-future England, the communicative follows Alex DeLarge, a sociopathic and charismatic gang leader who engages in brutal acts of force — and later undergoes reconditioning to atone for his crimes.
Where to watch: Available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
The films of Alejandro Jodorowsky
Image: Anchor Bay Entertainment
What the creators had to say: “I would never urge this to anyone, but each 1 is simply a mysterious work that leaves a strong impression on me.” —Hiroyuki Owaku, script author for the Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room
What it is: El Topo is simply a trippy Western where a man goes on a morally dubious quest to defeat all the top gunslingers in the planet at the behest of a female he has a questionable relation with, and who seems to have motives of her own — which likely sounds acquainted if you’re a fan of Silent Hill. Similarly, like many of manager Alejandro Jodorowsky’s films, El Topo is besides full of beautiful, quasi-psychedelic imagery, which is highly akin to any of the aesthetic choices in the Silent Hill series.
Where to watch: Available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
What it is: Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain is simply a surrealist movie that blends spiritual symbolism, mythology, and social satire. It follows a Christ-like figure on a transformative journey through a series of bizarre and symbolic encounters, culminating in a psychedelic imagination of the universe. The Holy Mountain appears to have had a strong influence on Silent Hill 4: The Room.
Where to watch: Available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
What it is: Likely the strangest of the movies on this list, Santa Sangre is mostly about a bizarre circus that features all kinds of different otherworldly performances, which are perfectly recognizable but inactive feel unusual and unnatural — and mostly pointedly sexual. The movie’s unusual dreaminess and peculiarly the ways that it attempts to visualize subconscious ideas and feelings gives it a clear and apparent connection to the Silent Hill franchise.
Where to watch: Prime Video, available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
The another movies and media that inspired Silent Hill
Image: Universal Pictures
What the creators had to say: “The reason why Vincent’s eyes are asymmetrical [in Silent Hill 3] is due to Brad Pitt.” —Shingo Yuri, character modeler and facial motion animator on Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room
What it is: Terry Gilliam’s apocalyptic sci-fi thriller stars Bruce Willis as James Cole, a man sent back in time to halt a suspected terrorist organization from unleashing a deadly virus that wipes out nearly all of humanity. After arriving in the past, James is committed to a intellectual hospital, where he meets Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), a patient who may or may not be behind the virus.
Where to watch: Tubi, available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
Image: Artisan Entertainment
What the creators had to say: “I saw this movie erstwhile I was in advanced school and it was the first movie that frightened me.” —Masahiro Ito, art manager and monster designer for Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room
What it is: 1 look at Jacob’s Ladder and it’s easy to see how its influence crept into Silent Hill. The movie is about a Vietnam vet whose combat experience leaves him seeing broken, horrific, fragmented hallucinations that he can’t rather understand.
Where to watch: MGM Plus, YouTube, available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
Image: First Run Features
What the creators had to say: “The ‘Light Bulb in a Can’ scene in [Silent Hill 2] was influenced by this work.” —Hiroyuki Owaku, script author for the Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, Silent Hill 4: The Room, and more
What it is: This 1988 Czech movie adapts Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and twists it into a macabre and violent horror fantasy. Combining live-action performances with stop-motion animation, Jan Švankmajer’s Alice has since gone on to become a cult classical among admirers of experimental animation.
Where to watch: Hoopla, Kanopy, available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
Image: The Criterion Channel
What the creators had to say: “[Silent Hill 2] was inspired in no tiny way by [the] final scene [in Betty Blue].” —Hiroyuki Owaku, script author for the Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room
What it is: This controversial erotic drama follows Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade), an aspiring author and handyman who pursues a illicit love affair with Betty (Béatrice Dalle), an emotionally volatile teenage girl. If you’re acquainted with James Sutherland’s relation with his wife, Mary, you can most likely guess about how well Zorg and Betty’s relation goes. Owaku specifically cited the 185-minute director’s cut of the movie as an inspiration behind Silent Hill 2.
Where to watch: The Criterion Channel, Mubi, available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
Image: 20th Century Fox
What the creators had to say: “I’ve been utilizing it as a mention for various aspects specified as visuals and performances since the first film.” —Masahiro Ito, art manager and monster designer for Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room
What it is: William Peter Blatty’s 1990 horror-thriller follows a detective named Kinderman who is investigating a series of murders linked to a serial killer. The Exorcist III — a direct sequel to the first 1973 movie — takes a turn for the supernatural erstwhile Kinderman encounters a priest who is possessed by a demon. The Exorcist III boasts 1 of the most unsettling jump scares of all time.
Where to watch: AMC Plus, Shudder, Peacock, Hoopla, Tubi, available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
Image: Paramount Pictures
What is it: Paul W.S. Anderson’s sci-fi horror movie (which would later inspire 2008’s Dead Space) follows a rescue squad that is dispatched to analyse the reappearance of a spaceship that disappeared during its maiden voyage. Upon boarding the ship, the crew members experience hallucinations based on their past emotional trauma.
Where to watch: Available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
Image: fresh Line Cinema/Arrow Video
What it is: manager Tarsem Singh’s The Cell is simply a sci-fi surrealist thriller in which a psychologist, utilizing experimental technology, explores a comatose serial killer’s psyche in an effort to save his next victim. The Cell is simply a visually striking movie thanks to its disturbing, surreal landscapes and gorgeous costuming.
Where to watch: Available to rent/purchase on Amazon and Apple
Island of Hell (aka Gokumon-to)
Image: Toho
What it is: Based on the works of nipponese mystery novelist Seishi Yokomizo, this horror mystery follows Kosuke Kindaichi, a scruffy Columbo-esque detective who investigates the murders of 3 sisters on a tiny island in 1946.
Where to watch: Not available to stream at this time.
Chris Cunningham’s music videos for Björk and Aphex Twin
Image: Warp
What the creators had to say: “I bought the Aphex duplicate video and was amazed at how good the footage was.” —Masahiro Ito, art manager and monster designer for Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill 3, and Silent Hill 4: The Room
What they are: Chris Cunningham is considered by many to be 1 of the most prolific music video directors of the mid-’90s and early 2000s, creating music videos for artists specified as Autechre, Portishead, and Squarepusher. Cunningham’s most celebrated works include the 1999 music video for Björk’s “All Is Full of Love” and his collaborations with Aphex Twin, peculiarly the 1997 music video for his drill ’n’ bass single “Come to Daddy.”
